Smokers and tobacco consumers will have to shell out more for their indulgence as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley continued with the crackdown on cigarettes and tobacco products by increasing taxes in the Budget for 2017-18.
Planning your household budget is an art. And there's not much you need to perfect it.
Considering the government's promise of electricity for all by 2012, the only specific mention in the entire Union Budget for the power sector includes the allocation of Rs 7,000 crore (Rs 70 billion)for RGGVY and Rs 2,080 crore (Rs 20.8 billion) for the RAPDRP programme, Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers Association, said. IEEMA welcomes the continuation of reforms, abolition of the fringe benefit tax and proposed introduction of GST on April 1, 2010.
Finance minister P Chidambaram assured a select gathering in New Delhi on Tuesday that Union Budget of 2013 will be presented on schedule. He expressed hope, that like it happened in 2004, it will not be passed without debating.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's office-bearers, members of Parliament and other leaders will fan out across the country to explain the merits of Union Budget 2022 to the people.
Budget has already bombed at the box office and passing it without a revisit will be a mockery of the exercise though any modification may be short lived and perfunctory, observes V Ranganathan.
India has had 28 finance ministers since independence.
Mrs Gandhi's power ebbed and peaked with the times. Mr Modi's has almost been constant, barring the few months of hard dip after the 240 seats of 2024, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Will this be a 'political' Budget? Or, will the Budget be able to take the country back to growth path?
'The BJP's real weapons are Hindutva, organisation and finance.'
Let's wait for the monetary policy on February 8 -- to see how it complements the fiscal commitments, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
China showcased its latest military hardware, including hypersonic and ballistic missiles, during a parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of its victory against Japanese aggression in World War II. President Xi Jinping called for world peace and national rejuvenation.
An Income-Tax Department internal committee reviewing the old direct tax law to pave the way for a new one has "largely" received suggestions for "simplifying" the language, better "structuring" the provisions and enlarging the ambit of schemes like presumptive taxation, CBDT chairman Ravi Agrawal said Sunday. Speaking to PTI during a post-Budget interview at his North Block office, Agrawal said the panel also "studied" the deliberations and processes of countries like the UK, Australia and some others where a similar tax law simplification exercise was undertaken.
The Indian automobile retail sector saw a strong start to 2025, with overall sales increasing by 6.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in January, according to the latest report by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA). Despite the positive numbers, the association noted that auto dealers have mixed expectations for the coming months. Nearly half (46 per cent) anticipate further growth in sales, while 43 per cent believe sales will remain steady.
'After the presentation of the Budget, the House will be adjourned.'
The government is learnt to have described the Union Budget as an annual constitutional exercise covering the entire country and not just a few states.
The Budget Session of Parliament will commence on Monday and is scheduled to conclude on April 8 wherein the first part of the session will extend up to February 11, said the Lok Sabha Secretariat on Sunday.
Two stock market experts discuss their wishlists for Union Budget 2017 with Rediff.com's Aslam Hunani.
Congress leader and ex-finance minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said the Union Budget was the "most capitalist" with nothing for the poor and farmers while sops were being provided to big industrialists turning India into a very "unequal country". At a press conference after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled a Rs 39.45 lakh crore Budget, he said because of the ruling party's "brute majority" the Lok Sabha pass the Budget but people will reject it. He claimed the Bharatiya Janata Party was going to elections, scheduled in five states, not with their performance or with the promises and assurances to the people, but solely "with the agenda of dividing the country and bringing Hindutva back to power".
With people reposing faith in the UPA and voting for stability, this is the government's chance to fulfill its promises, ensure growth and development of the country, check runaway prices, and offer succour to the aam aadmi.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh emphasizes the need for India to remain prepared for uncertainty, even during peacetime, and highlights the increasing importance of the defence sector as an economic driver.
In fact, no other recent Union Budget has held so much significance for the Indian economy as the one to be presented in about six weeks from now, notes A K Bhattacharya.
The GDP growth is expected to be about 6.3 per cent in the current fiscal year, a tad lower than the government's estimate of 6.4 per cent, owing to several factors such as weak demand, SBI research report said on Wednesday. According to the first advance estimates (FAE) of National Income for 2024-25 released by the National Statistics Office (NSO), released on Tuesday, India's economic growth rate is estimated to slip to a four-year low of 6.4 per cent in 2024-25, because of poor showing by the manufacturing and subdued investments.
Your financial planning may need an overhaul.
'The government's priority is not farmers.'
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced plans to increase milk and dairy production in the country. India is the largest milk producer in the world but there is low productivity, the finance minister said.
he FIR was lodged against her based on a complaint, the police said.
The Budget refers to the 'Annual Financial Statement', laid before both the Houses of Parliament.
We want to know from you, dear readers, what you think about Jaitley's budget.
Contrary to the popular belief that women are least concerned about the implications of Union Budget, this fiscal there has been a steadily rising voice of women from across the nation, airing their demands and expectations from the Union Budget 2012.
There is a fear that the finance minister might raise the holding period for equities.
The opposition leaders are expected to meet at Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge's office in the Parliament complex around 10 am, sources said.
Last year, Sitharaman had ditched the long-standing tradition of carrying budget documents in a leather briefcase and went swadeshi with a 'bahi-khata'.
Jairam Ramesh, said Finance Minister Jaswant's Singh's maiden endeavour had failed to address the problem of deceleration of economic growth, which had not risen beyond five per cent during the last five years.
Per capita income has more than doubled to Rs 1.97 lakh in around nine years. Indian economy has increased in size from being 10th to 5th largest in the world in the past nine years. Seven priorities of the Budget, 'Saptarishi', are inclusive development, reaching the last mile, infrastructure and investment, unleashing the potential, green growth, youth power and financial sector.
The finance minister has stayed true to her commitment to fiscal consolidation, even though the pace of the decline in the deficit could have been faster, notes A K Bhattacharya.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday presented her sixth Budget in a row, equalling the record of former Prime Minister Morarji Desai.
In an exclusive conversation with Rediff.com, Finance Minister P Chidambaram's son Karthik Chidambaram stated that the Union budget presented by his father in Parliament on Thursday was a "gender sensitive" one.
The government on Tuesday proposed reducing the long-term capital gains tax on immovable properties to 12.5 per cent from 20 per cent, but removed the indexation benefits to adjust for inflation, a move experts termed as "negative" for sellers.
The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions, has given a call for a two-day strike from December 16 to protest against the proposed privatisation of two state-owned lenders. In the Union Budget presented in February, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the privatisation of two public sector banks (PSBs) as part of its disinvestment plan. The government has already privatised IDBI Bank by selling its majority stake in the lender to LIC in 2019 and merged 14 public sector banks in the past four years.
